Kevin Owens Must Win at WWE Battleground 2015 to Validate Main Roster Run

Kevin Owens is headed for the third in a series of matches against John Cena at WWE's Battleground event on Sunday, July 19.  While just being in the same ring with Cena has elevated Owens to the main event scene, he needs the win at Battleground to validate his run.

Many fans are likely very anxious to see this match go down, mostly because of the first two in the rivalry thus far.  Owens has brought his best on both occasions and proved why he belongs in the biggest pro wrestling company in the world.

Owens may not look like the typical WWE Superstar in terms of physique, but he more than makes up for it with intensity and ability in the ring.  He has gone toe-to-toe with Cena and held his own, surely earning the respect of fans who may not have been very familiar with his work from the indie circuit.

Those days are behind him now, as Owens has truly arrived and earned his spot on the main roster. But if he does the job to Cena at Battleground, then it may all be for nothing.

Nothing can kill a guy's momentum faster than a loss, and this is especially true for a newer star.  Owens has spent some time impressing fans and building his character one week at a time.  Where Cena has had 13 years on the main roster, Owens has had two months, so a loss right now could potentially damage him beyond repair.

Much of the negative hype surrounding Cena over the years is that feuding with him ultimately leads to nowhere for many talents.  Ryback and Rusev are just two recent examples of guys who looked good against Cena and had moments to shine, but in the end, they could not get the job done.

While both men are working to keep getting better, they arguably did not benefit in the long run from having feuded with Cena.  If WWE is truly interested in moving forward, this trend will have to change at some point, and there's no reason why it should not happen at Battleground.

A loss on Cena's part does not mean he's finished as WWE's top star, and it does not mean he will go on a losing streak anytime soon.  But doing the job to Owens is the right move here because Owens needs the win based on the work he's put in thus far.

He came from out of nowhere, he took the main roster by storm, and he became the talk of the wrestling world.  Fifteen years in the industry led him to the moment he first confronted Cena in the ring, and his work against WWE's top guy led him to the highest level he's ever seen.

He made the fans take notice, he made them care, and he made them remember him.  If all of that was not meant to build his foundation, strengthen his career and forge his main roster character, then why was any of it done to begin with?

Was Owens built to be fed to Cena, to be another victim of WWE's primary moneymaker in a rivalry that could have wowed but instead ended in a whimper?  

Cena is all business, and if losing to Owens is plausible and sensible from a storyline perspective, then he would surely go along with the idea.  Cena may still be the top star, but he is not the future of WWE, and Owens is.

Owens is a half-step away from being the company's top heel, and taking the United States Championship from Cena at Battleground could very well solidify that position.  It's part of his natural evolution and will add another positive on his young WWE career.

All of the work to get Owens over cannot have been in vain.  If he loses at Battleground, the first question asked will almost certainly be "What was all this for?"  Owens' future begins now, and Battleground is a must-win for him if that future is to get off to the right start.

Tom's work can regularly be found on Bleacher Report, and his podcast, Tom Clark's Main Event, is available on iTunes, Google Play, Windows Phone, Amazon Android and online here